Earlier this year, Microsoft said it would add native support for the Open Document Format (ODF) due in part to increasing pressure from customers "and because we want to get involved in the maintenance of ODF." The decision might seem a curious one given the effort Microsoft spent on pushing its OOXML through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), but the company said the changes OOXML had gone through in the ratification process ended up making it more difficult to support than ODF.

Holding true to its word, Microsoft has published documentation detailing its implementation of ODF version 1.1 In Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 scheduled for release in 2009. Microsoft also said similar notes about its implementation of Open XML are forthcoming.

“By publishing notes on how we are implementing file format standards in Microsoft Office, we are providing detail that others can use as a reference point for their own applications,” said Doug Mahugh, senior project manager for Office interoperability. “We encourage other companies to take similar steps to help achieve greater interoperability across the industry.”

But before Microsoft and the Open Standards community gathers around the virtual campfire and sings Kumbaya, TGDaily warns that a small number of caveats leaves the door open for Microsoft to introduce Microsoft-specific variations to the ODF standard.

Microsoft’s last Patch Tuesday of 2008 is on its way, and it’s bringing a heavy amount of updates that you’ll want to be ready for.

Yesterday Microsoft announced a whopping eight security bulletins that will be going public on December 9th. The announcement was meant to allow IT departments some prep time before the post-Monday patch fiasco. Six of the bulletins have been listed as “critical” with two posted up as “important.”

Of the patches, two of them are meant directly for Windows itself. The others are for the separate applications of Microsoft’s Office suite.

As new netbooks continue to march into the market, it's typically the hardware that garners most of the attention. Some models sport solid-state drives (SSDs), while others keep it old school with a traditional hard drive. But all of them share two key characteristics - reduced screen real estate and gimped performance - that have opened up a market for specialized software.

Enter ThinkFree, who this week launched its ThinkFree Netbook Edition, a software solution encompassing an assortment of productivity applications designed for netbooks. Unlike standard office suites, ThinkFree claims its new software has been optimized for small screens and limited hardware resources inherent in Intel Atom chipset-based netbooks.

"Netbook users are demanding applications that are built to not only meet, but make the most of the unique characteristics of this new device category, (and) Netbook OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) can now offer their customers just that by pre-installing a customized, device-tailored version of ThinkFree Netbook Edition," Su Jin Kim, ThinkFree's CEO, said in a statement.

ThinkFree Mobile: Netbook Edition is available now with support for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. And from now until October 31st, the company will give away a copy to anyone willing to fill out a short survey.

Most of the buzz surrounding Microsoft has to do with the company's next operating system, Windows 7, and what changes to expect over Vista. But a new OS isn't the only thing the software giant has been working on, as the next version of Office is receiving some attention as well.

At next week's Professional Developer Conference (PDC), Microsoft plans to talk about Office 14 (as the next version of Office has been code-named) with attendees, giving them a sneak peek at some of the features. Sure to be a highlight of the discussion is Office 14's ability to run in different modes, online or offline.

"We will rewrite Office to work in a browser," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in an interview with Britain's Computer Weekly.

But while attendees will get a first look at Office 14 - specifically, Office business applications and the software's Open XML file formats, according to the two listed sessions - it doesn't appear they'll be walking home with a copy, so don't fret if you won't be in attendance.

A new version of OpenOffice is upon us and it’s worth your while to check it out. We’ve long recommended this suite of programs as one of the must-have open-source applications on your PC. Simply put, it’s as close to Microsoft’s Office suite as you’re going to get without plunking down a small fortune. It doesn’t contain any unpleasantries in design and functionality that the idea of a “free office suite” might conjure up. And its newest 3.0 incarnation—all of .6 somethings greater than the last full OpenOffice release—adds even more versatility to the suite.

Hit the jump for an in-depth look at some of OpenOffice 3.0's top new features!

In what's becoming a trend, Washington D.C. joins the ranks of more than 500,000 businesses and organizations with its head in the clouds. District CTO Vivik Kundra inked an agreement with Google that will port the organization's 38,000 employees over to Google Apps.

According to Bloomberg, the agreement, which was signed back in June, is worth almost $500,000 a year and will include applications like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Video for business, and Google Sites to District employees. The latest win comes as another notch in Google's belt, as its Google Apps has been well received since launching a little over two years ago as Gmail for your domain.

But Google isn't the only one challenging Microsoft in the productivity world. Zoho also offers a collection of online apps and managed to snag GE as one of its customers. Meanwhile, Microsoft has largely been content to ride the success of its offline Office suite, but things could get interesting if cloud computing continues to pick up steam.

Welcome to Monday! In honor of the start of the work week, we're going to take a look at some of the top open-source and freeware office applications. We're not just talking about suites, though. Like our previous three features, we're going to run through programs that cover a wide range of activities you might encounter during a typical, nine-to-five day. Hey, maybe you'll even be able to convince your friendly IT person of choice to install these finds across a batch of computers! You'll be a hero! You'll save your company millions in licensing fees! Promotions will be thrown at your cubicle like butter on bread!

Open-source and freeware applications are just that exciting. But don't take our word for it. Check out the full list of applications after the jump!